


we'll make it through the night

by scoutshonour



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Established Jonathan Byers/Steve Harrington/Nancy Wheeler, Fluff, Literal Sleeping Together, M/M, awkward boys are awkward boys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-10
Updated: 2019-05-10
Packaged: 2020-02-29 09:16:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18775321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scoutshonour/pseuds/scoutshonour
Summary: Hewasa disaster. Nancy wouldn’t say anything, just roll her eyes and kiss him very fondly, but Jonathan was the fucker whowould, but would he kiss Steve fondly, would he be okay with Steve showing up in the middle of the night, was this even allowed —“Why are you throwing rocks at my window? You could’ve knocked.”(or: Steve can't sleep. He goes to Jonathan's house.)





	we'll make it through the night

**Author's Note:**

> post season 2. right after these three nerds get together. established stoncy, but this is primarily a stonathan fic!!

Steve began regretting it as soon as he saw the Byers’ front door. It had been been three weeks since everything. He had enough trouble being back in there after a year, he couldn’t possibly —

He _really_ hoped Jonathan wasn’t a light sleeper.

“Hey! Psst! Goddammit, Byers, can you —”

Steve was about to chuck another rock at Jonathan’s window when he heard a distinct cough on the other side. Oh, shit. He ran a hand through his hair and used the other to smooth his jeans. He looked like a disaster. He _was_ a disaster. Nancy wouldn’t say anything, just roll her eyes and kiss him very fondly, but Jonathan was the fucker who _would_ , but would he kiss Steve fondly, would he be okay with Steve showing up in the middle of the night, was this even allowed —

“Why are you throwing rocks at my window? You could’ve knocked.”

Not _why are you at my house._ Not _get out._

Steve could do this.

He dropped the rock and shrugged. “Missed your face,” he said lamely. He kicked at the leaves on the ground, hoping to God Jonathan couldn’t see his stupid, red face in the night.

“Did you really?”

“Well, yeah. But I — I couldn’t sleep. I usually go to Nance’s, but I haven’t done that since before we —” _Broke up_ doesn’t feel accurate, not after he talked it out, kind of, with Nancy. “After that. She obviously came up in my head, but then I remembered you live closer. So I’m here.” Steve shoved his hands into his pocket. He couldn’t meet Jonathan’s eyes quite yet, staring at his chin instead.

“Are you coming in?”

“Are you going to _let_ me?”

Jonathan blinked, like the thought hadn’t occurred to him. Steve finally met Jonathan’s eyes, raking his gaze over Jonathan’s messy hair, his slightly-baggy, maroon shirt, and boxers. Jesus. The sight made Steve a little lightheaded.

“You don’t have to ask.”

“Well, I didn’t. Technically.”

Jonathan grinned. He took a step forward and leaned his head out the window. His face looked very soft in the moonlight. “You can come in.” He stepped back, gestured for Steve to come in.

Steve awkwardly climbed in, one long, gangly leg after the other. He nearly hit his head on the window. “Jesus fucking —”

“Shh!” Jonathan shoved his finger against Steve’s mouth. “Will’s a heavy sleeper.”

Steve startled, widening his eyes and hitting the back of Jonathan’s wall. “Oh, so you can touch my lips before you kiss me?”

It was much darker in Jonathan’s room than it was outside, so it sucked a shit-ton amount that he couldn’t see Jonathan’s face right now. “You threw rocks at my window. You should kiss me.”

“Okay,” Steve said, and just fucking went for it. It was still a little jarring. Kissing Jonathan Byers, of all people. Not in the way it would have been over a year ago. More in the he’s _Nancy’s_ but shit, maybe not just that anymore, he’s so _pretty,_ and he gets to be good at killing monsters, photography, _and_ this too?

Jonathan made a strained noise against his mouth, low and quiet. God, what Steve would do to hear that again. He gripped Steve’s shoulder with one hand, his hair with the other, and before Steve knew it, he was back against the wall.

“Can you relax for like, two seconds, I’m not made of _steel_ —”

“Sorry,” Jonathan said. He pressed a soft kiss against Steve’s forehead. Steve immediately wanted to clarify that he was joking. “I got excited.”

Steve laughed against the back of his hand, trying to keep quiet. “Don’t be sorry. Never be sorry.”

“Never sounds like a bit much.”

“Not for this then. Nance likes your excitement, you know.”

Jonathan might have raised his eyebrows. Steve really wished he knew Jonathan’s room better by now, the way he knew Nancy’s. Not just for the fact that he would’ve known where the lights were so he could see Jonathan properly, finally.

Nancy’s room felt like home. He preferred it over being in his own, and sure, that might have been due to Nancy herself, but still. He knew every inch of that room, knew the creaks in her mattress, knew where she kept her favourite books. Meanwhile, he had no idea where Jonathan’s light-switch was, did Jonathan even like to read, but it was nice. Comforting.

A few days ago, they swung by after school. Steve had all these dumb fucking butterflies in his stomach, all freaking day, at the idea of being in Jonathan’s room with him and Nancy, just the three of them. Jonathan didn’t seem to recognize what it meant, the way Nancy had said “Stu- _dy_ " with the slight curl in the corner of her lips, an eyebrow just barely lifted.

If he didn’t recognize it then, he would’ve after that day.

He liked the sex, obviously. It was weird and different and good all the same. But he liked what came after more — laying his head on Jonathan’s chest, Nancy playing with his hair. Jonathan kept laughing and saying _Nancy_ in mock-reprimand. When Steve looked up, he saw Nancy trailing kisses up and down his face.

“What? Steve, tell him I’m not doing anything, I don’t understand all the _noise_ here —”

“Did you know you’re ten times more childish when Steve is here?”

Nancy tilted her head and shot Steve a mischievous smile. There were so many butterflies, even more when he sprung forward and peppered kisses along Jonathan’s jaw.

It was a nice day. Just thinking about it made Steve smile.

He could get used to this. He _wanted_ to.

“Nancy likes a lot of things,” Jonathan said, smile sounding his voice. He ran his fingers through Steve’s hair. “Like this, for starters.”

“You like it too.”

“Nah, just the idiot attached to it. What? Too far?”

“No,” Steve said, not aware that his voice could sound so soft. “Not really.”

They fell into a peaceful sort of silence. Jonathan looked at him and Steve didn’t look away. “You know, hot chocolate always helps Will fall asleep.”

It wasn’t that bad, being led past the Byers’ hallway, when Jonathan’s coarse hand covered his. Not that bad at all.

“You don’t mind, do you? Me coming here like this.”

Jonathan furrowed his eyebrows as he pulled out two mugs from the pantry. “No, I don’t mind. Are you okay?”

Steve didn’t know how to answer that. “Are any of us?”

He let out a dry laugh, scratching the back of his neck. “I guess not, no.” He leaned against the counter. Stared at the space next to him for a few seconds before Steve took the hint.

Steve shuffled until his leg pressed against Jonathan’s. They watched the milk boil together. “Sometimes I don’t think it’ll end. I mean, Nancy’s put Hopper’s gun in her nightstand. Dustin’s trying to get _me_ into buying them guns, which, I don’t understand, except I kind of do. And Nancy told me you have a bear trap in your garage.”

“You have a bat that somehow works.”

“It’s not even _mine._ It’s Nance’s bat that you added spikes to. I just took it. Never gave it back.”

“Keep it. It’s been yours for awhile.”

Steve’s gaze slipped to Jonathan’s lips. “I guess. It’s stupid, but it kind of makes me feel safe.”

“Well, you’ve kicked some serious ass with it.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Oh.”

He couldn’t appreciate Jonathan’s blush despite being able to properly see it, not when he had his own to internally bemoan over. Oh well. He put it out there himself. Might as well embrace it. He braced his hand against the counter and inched it towards Jonathan’s.

Jonathan’s hand shifted slightly toward his.

“This is.” Jonathan started to say. His voice was scratchy with exhaustion. Steve hoped he didn’t wake him up.

Steve waited for him to finish, but Jonathan just stared at their mugs. “Yes?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think there’s a word for it.”

“Is it — I mean, is it the _three_ of us thing or the _me_ thing?”

He gave Steve a pointed look as he darted forward to pour the milk into their mugs. “I don’t understand what you mean.”

Steve made an aggrieved sound. “Yes, you do. You’re not an idiot.”

“Thank you for the praise.”

Steve bit back a smile. “Seriously, man. C’mon.”

He shrugged and swivelled around to push the mug into Steve’s hands. “Nothing is as weird as you liking me.”

“How is _that_ weirder?”

“How is it not? I mean, I’ve seen you looking moon-eyed at Nancy, laugh and smile after everything she says, go back into my house for whatever fucking reason last year, so it’s just ... I don’t know. It’s hard to believe that I could have — that you could _give_ that. To me. Honestly, it’s hard to believe that coming from Nancy too.”

“Well believe it,” Steve said, shocked by the hardness in his voice. He cleared his throat and blew over the hot chocolate. “It’s not hard to believe, not from this side of the — the triangle, I guess.”

Jonathan’s eyes turned very brown. Sparkled might have been excessive, but Steve couldn’t think of another word to describe what his gaze was doing, mostly to him. He touched Steve’s elbow gently. “Let’s sit.”

The house was quiet and still when they sat across from each other at the small, sturdy dining table. Quite the contrast from the handful of times Steve had been here before the thing between them happened. Dating was the word, but it felt strangely simplistic. He didn’t want to act like they were married now with a white-picket fence that he was pretty sure neither Nancy nor Jonathan would ever want and with dogs that he _knew_ they would love. Everything was new, awkward, gentle. Even with him and Nancy. It felt like he was seeing her in a different light now. Like everything had cleared. She was more herself, more comfortable with them both, yes, but she had also told him, her voice slightly breaking, that pretending nearly killed her and she couldn’t do it again. He knew she meant Barb, knew she was talking about her break down at that stupid fucking party.

 _You need to see me,_ she told him, a finger pointed in his chest. Jonathan wasn’t there. It was a few days after they fumbled their way together. Nancy wanted to talk about it and Steve, well, he couldn’t possibly do it with Jonathan around.

 _You need to see all of me._ It was weird to be doing this on Nancy’s bed, where they’d fucked and cuddled and just talked about things so many times over the past year. They talked, but not about the thing that hung over them like a dark cloud.

 _I shouldn’t have — I don’t blame you, that’s not fair, and you have to know that I do, I do, but_ —

And he _had_ to cut her off there, had to apologize, had to gather her in her arms, had to hold her and let her hold him back. It was uncomfortable, but it was Nancy, and it was another chance to not just be better, but do her better.

Even if this thing fizzled out — the thought alone churned his stomach — they were always going to be bonded, in some way. No one else would understand why the Byers’ didn’t do Christmas lights anymore. No one else would understand why Steve kept a fucking bat in the trunk of his car. No one else would understand why Nancy avoided Hawkins’ pool, why she refused the swimming unit in her P.E class and _screamed_ at her teacher until her throat went raw and until she broke into tears.

And those two weeks while Nancy and Jonathan were together but not with him were terrible, but he tried, okay? He tried to get them out of his head, tried to tell him they fit better anyway, tried not to think of Nancy’s blue eyes or Jonathan’s shoulders and he failed miserably. Honestly, he tried to get Jonathan out of his head for much longer than that, but still.

Sure, those were just two weeks, especially after a break-up — what felt like a break-up, at least. But he just _knows_ that if you gave him another year, gave him ten, he couldn’t get them out of his mind.

But honestly, he was fine with that. Nancy wanted him back, even after the shit-show at the party, and Jonathan’s looking at him like this, after Steve threw rocks at his window and asked to come in at two in the morning, after Steve said a bunch of stupid shit and broke his camera. It’s quite reasonable to think that it’s the same for both of them too.

“You’re thinking very loudly,” Jonathan said. He raised his pinky as he sipped his hot chocolate and it was so fucking adorable that Steve’s mind went blank.

Steve shrugged, shaking his head and inadvertently causing his hair to flop. “You wanna know what I’m thinking about?”

“No, I’m just worried you might hurt yourself there. Careful. You’re not —”

“Shut up.” Steve laughed. “I won’t even let you finish. You’re having too much fun with this. Finish your hot cocoa so we can cuddle already.” He pinked, not knowing where that came from. Steve, _relax,_ don’t be so —

Jonathan proceeded to chug down the rest of his drink. "’Kay.” He wiped his mouth with the back of his sleeve. “I’m good.”

Steve’s heart flipped. The version of him from a year ago would not recognize him, but then again, that version was a little shit, so he didn’t really care.

They tiptoed back to Jonathan’s room. Steve crawled underneath the covers first. The bed was still small, even when the body count went from three to two.

“Are you sure you’re comfortable?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Are you sure, because I can take the floor —”

“Do you think I came here to sleep with your floor? Wait, that implies — hold on, I came here for sleep sleep reasons, not sleep —”

“I don’t want you to be uncomfortable, Steve.”

“Dude. Your leg could be up my ass and I’d be fine.”

“I don’t know how to respond to that.”

“Yeah, maybe don’t.” Steve flushed and turned around. His nose pressed against Jonathan’s. He raised his shaking hand to touch the side of Jonathan’s face. “Thanks for letting me in.”

“Thanks for —” Jonathan paused. He slid an arm across Steve’s waist. “Thanks for your body-heat. Nance is very cold.”

He chuckled fondly. “Yeah, she is. She’s got a good grasp, though. Like her arm is. Strong. You know what I mean.”

“Yeah. Did you — did you have a nightmare?”

Maybe it was the dark that made it easier to be honest. “I don’t really get nightmares? I have, once or twice, but mostly it’s like. I’ll see something that reminds me of it. And I just cannot sleep. I was just watching TV and there was some stupid kids movie about like — fuck, I have _no_ idea, but it kinda sent me back. Do you get them?”

“Yeah. It’s not as bad, I guess, because Will is next door. But I need to like, fall asleep watching him so I know that he’s there, and I don’t want to crawl into his bed or anything, so falling asleep on a chair facing your brother is ... weird and uncomfortable.”

“Oh. You could come over to mine, if you wanted. Or Nance’s. Or call us. We can watch your brother with you. Er, that sounds bad, but the sentiment is there, right?”

“Right.” Jonathan’s eyes crinkled with a smile.

Steve counted his breathing once, twice, and a third time for good measure before sweeping in to press a soft, tender kiss against Jonathan’s lips. “If I had to finish that sentence, you know, your _this is_ earlier, the first word that comes to mind is good.”

He pulled Steve closer by the hip. “Sounds right. I mean, we’ve got a good thing going on. It’s worked so far.”

The _so far_ hung ominously in the air. Steve frowns. “It was weird, I guess, when Nancy suggested it, but like, all of her ideas are weird and crazy, but they all work out in the end.”

“Is this the end, then,” Jonathan asked, his voice light, almost teasing.

Steve decisively pulled Jonathan’s arm further around his own waist. He buried his head into Jonathan’s shoulder. _He’s warm too,_ he thought. Nancy would appreciate the furnaces they were, would appreciate it from her corner on the wall’s side, watching them, waiting to see who would make the next move with that curious look he adored. “Nope. Not even close.” And it felt silly to say this when the three of them, and he and Jonathan, were still new, still buzzing with the excitement and nervousness of a blossoming relationship. But hey. They were teens, still kids. Even if he rarely felt like it. Even if Nancy and Jonathan rarely acted like it. They deserved to talk about _forevers_ and _endings,_ didn’t they?

It was better than the alternative. Than acting like they didn’t have tomorrows. That would be fair, with all things considered.

This was better.

“Mm, go to sleep.” Jonathan murmured. He rested his chin on top of Steve’s head and rubbed his back. “Don’t worry. I’ve got you.”

And it was easy to fall asleep like that, Steve wholeheartedly believing Jonathan’s words and the content akin to a puzzle finally being completed buzzing in his chest.

**Author's Note:**

> i swear, half of my fics are written when i should have been studying. this one was done the day before a chem test and honestly, i needed to get out of my other fic (COUGH WE HAVE THE TIME IS ITS NAME COUGH) for a second. this worked really well. i pumped out 3k after writing this, so thank you stonathan. thank you.
> 
>  
> 
> [ say hi on tumblr! ](http://trulyalpha.tumblr.com)


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